


seeing ghosts

by Yevynaea



Category: AR∀GO ロンドン市警特殊犯罪捜査官 | Arago
Genre: Canon Era, Gen, Homelessness, Mistaken Identity, POV Original Character, POV Outsider, Pre-Canon, Short One Shot, Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:13:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28498854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yevynaea/pseuds/Yevynaea
Summary: Before Doe knows his name, she calls him a few things-- kid, punk, little bastard-- but for most, it's Ghost that sticks. Angry and pale and lost. London's ghost. Their ghost, in some ways.
Relationships: Arago Hunt & Others
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	seeing ghosts

He's a scrawny kid, the first time they meet him. Won't give his age out to no one, and only gives his name to a few.

Before Doe knows his name, she calls him a few things-- kid, punk, little bastard-- but for most, it's Ghost that sticks. Angry and pale and lost. London's ghost. Their ghost, in some ways.

He doesn't stick with anyone, or in one place, jumping from spot to spot like everyone else, never allowed to settle for more than a night, if even that. Their paths cross often, though, and most people Doe knows have met the little ghost. Doe doesn't know if all his running’s  _ away  _ or  _ toward _ . She never asks, not once in years.

But she always waves, when she sees him, calls his nickname even though she knows he's got a real one.

She sees him walking across the street from her one night, and he's clean and holding a grocery bag full of good food and wearing glasses and Doe calls out,

“Oi, Ghostie! Haven’t seen ya--” she stops, hand half raised, as she looks a little closer and realizes that this man isn't their ghost.

The stranger keeps walking.

The next time, she's sure. It's him. He's got black gloves and clean clothes on, he's talking to a detective on a crime scene with more calm than Doe thought he had in him, and when he turns and sees her, starts toward her, he has the same presence as always, the same look in his eye.

“Where’d you get off to, Ghost?” Doe asks, eyeing his white shirt, only a hint of a coffee stain on one sleeve so suggest it isn't brand new. “No one's seen you ‘round in a bit.”

“Found a place,” he says, smiling, but there's a well-familiar heaviness behind it. “And a job.”

“Hunt!” the detective calls, gesturing impatiently for him to come back over. Their ghost ignores him.

“Never thought I'd see the day you were employed,” Doe teases. She feels, for just a moment, uncomfortable with the news; for all she's happy for him, maybe he won't want to involve himself with their crowd anymore. Then he grins, and Doe’s worry melts off.

“I'll lose my income if I don't get back to work,” he says, gesturing behind him, to the cops and the crime scene tape and the impatient detective, and Doe doesn't quite get yet what his job could be that has him talking to them, but she waves him off.

“Yeah, go.”

He starts off, then he stops, turning back.

“My door’s open. Flat’s tiny, but it's got water and a couch, and half-decent heating, most’ the time,” he says. He gives her an address.

“You grew up good, Ghostie,” she pats his arm, and he flinches, but before she can wonder why, he's already gone.


End file.
